The Breaker
by RonaldWeasleyTheHero
Summary: The trainees of the military Academy are pitted against each other in a survival exercise, as things escalate perceptions will change and secrets will be revealed.
1. Leader

**Hi guys RonaldWeasleyTheHero here with another story! now dont get mad, i have a lot of time on my hands so i decided to write another fic that has been on my mind. I hope you guys like it, i want to give this fandom something else to read, since i have yet to see something like this yet. once again Armin will probably be the main focus but this is a fic that will be about the entire 104th squad really, and i WILL do them justice, that includes everyone ymir, marco sasha, characters like that that usually dont get a lot of time in most fics. and dont worry i have almost all of it planned out even towards the ending. One warning though, Armin Arlert is a genius and I am not, so any contradictions people smarter than me out there find with my writing i urge you not to hold it against me. so i will stress it once again**

**I. AM NOT. A GENIUS!**

**so there...**

* * *

_**The Breaker Chapter 1: Leader**_

Armin could hardly think of a time when he did not feel inadequate. He watched in envy and self loathing as his peers bloomed and matured into promising young soldiers while he stayed stagnant and unimpressive. They were given praise and merit, and were undoubtedly recognized for their talent. But it was not recognition he wanted, no, he honestly could care less about looking superior compared to his friends. something like that would be pointless and unnecessary since they were his comrades. What he wanted above all else was trust, he wanted his comrades to trust him with their lives like he did with them. Armin wanted to be trustworthy, to be capable. He could see it in their eyes every time he was paired with a certain groups for exercises. Their disappointed gazes, their reluctant acceptance of his presence. And worst of all the acknowledgment that everyone in the group knew who the weak link was.

"Don't hold us back, Arlert." Ymir said , her voice loud due to the heavy pouring rain. Him along with Ymir, Krista, and Connie were currently in the middle of panicking, to be honest it was mostly him and Connie, Krista and Ymir seemed fine though Ymir looked bored while Krista just looked slightly apprehensive. Armin looked around him, it was dark, the heavy downpour was blocking their vision and they were surrounded on all sides by the large towering trees that littered the forests. Things were not looking good for them, but Armin knew that none of the other 20 teams were faring any better.

"Aww man, what the hell are we suppose to do!? That damn bald headed instructor probably wanted us to lose, all the other teams are going to kick our asses!" Connie shouted, grasping his head with both hands, the very image of despair.

"Stop whining, we need to get out of this rain or else were all going to die from hypothermia," Ymir picked up Krista who squeaked in surprise hooking to a tree nearby speeding away in a random direction.

Connie cursed and followed after the taller brunette. "Armin, hurry the hell up, we don't want to lose them!" He called over his shoulder.

Armin jumped and began to follow Connie, he shivered as the rain chilled his skin to an uncomfortable level. He didn't want to believe it but it seemed like his team was built to lose, it was not that he didn't believe in them, Connie and Krista were both top ten material, and Ymir when she wanted was no pushover.

But compared to their competition they were clearly outmatched,

Armin hooked to another tree at the height of his swing a stream of gas giving him another burst of speed. He finally found Connie and Ymir who was still holding Krista in her hands. He came up beside them.

"What do we do!?" He yelled over the rain.

"I don't know, you tell me , you are suppose to be the leader Armin." Ymir replied.

Armin almost froze in midair when he was reminded that he was suppose to be the group leader.

Armin looked down "B-but I'm not fit."

Ymir gave him a blank look, but Armin could see the disdain behind it "Damn straight you aren't, spineless men like you piss me the hell off. So stay here and cry in some tree or something I'm going to find shelter and ride out this exercise till it's over you do whatever you want Armin!"

"Wait ymi-"

"Quiet! Now is not the time for your goody two shoes act!"

Armin and Connie were surprised by the outburst, despite her attitude they both knew that Ymir genuinely cared about Krista.

"There!" Ymir pointed to a rock formation below.

The four of them didn't waste any time, they landed and ran under finally getting away from the heavy rain. The ground was wet and uncomfortable, the air was cold and unpleasant. Armin sat down on the muddy ground while the others did the same.

He looked around to his teammates, a part of him felt like he needed to apologize for his presence, like their misery and their eventual failure was his fault, no matter how irrational Armin knew the thought was, it still invaded his mind like a virus. Maybe if he was half a decent soldier they would have a better chance than they currently did.

Armin tightened his grip on his sword and looked at the sharp silver weapon. Why did they give him one, he rarely used them, when he did, the results were less than optimal. Armin closed his eyes, his mind taking him back to just a few hours earlier when this mess began.

* * *

"When your name is called, you are to line at your designated area!" Instructor Shadis's gruff commanding voice rang loudly in the trainee's ears, most of them still feeling the exhaustion of waking up so early in the morning, but none more so than a small blonde trainee.

Armin Arlert yawned and stretched out his limbs, he had barely slept last night. The thought of the exercise that was going to take place the next morning had filled him with an anxiety that left him with no chance of getting any sort of rest. He gazed towards the sky seeing the sun peeking its head across the horizon, the morning sunshine creeping on them slowly but surely. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see his best friend Eren Jaeger.

"Hey Armin, you ready?" Eren asked.

Armin gave a hesitant nod "Yeah...I guess."

"Where is Mikasa?" Armin asked, it was rare sight not to have the Asian girl following Eren's every move.

Eren glanced around him, realizing Armin's observation, "I don't know, usually she comes to get me in the morning."

"I needed to get ready." Eren jumped and spun around to face Mikasa.

"Where were you!? And don't sneak up on people!"

"Eren calm down..." Armin said, he looked to his other best friend "How are you feeling Mikasa?"

She looked impassive but Armin could see a fire in her eyes, Mikasa was more competitive than she let on. "I was getting some extra training done, I want to win."

"Mikasa Ackerman! Line up at row 3!" Shadis called,

Mikasa waved them goodbye before walking to Shadis and standing in the row that was labeled with a three. She was the first one assigned to the number and Armin could practically feel the other trainee's praying desperately to be on the same team as the number one in the Academy, Armin on the other hand was conflicted. He would love to work together with Mikasa, but on the other hand he didn't want to bring her down.

Eren began to shake with anticipation "Hey, Armin, we're going to be on the same team I can feel it." He turned to him and grinned "And we are going to beat Mikasa and win it all."

Armin sweat dropped, still not understanding the pointless one sided rivalry Eren insisted on having with Mikasa.

"Eren Jaeger! Line 3!"

"What!?" Eren screamed in outrage.

Keith Shadis did not appreciate the reaction "You got a problem with my decisions Jaeger?" He said menacingly, his tone promising hours upon hours of laps if Eren said anything that he didn't want to hear.

"No sir..." Eren slumped and walked over to stand behind Mikasa who couldn't be happier with the pick.

Armin waited patiently for his name to be called, as line three was fully formed with Bertholdt and Sasha being added to the mix. Armin just hoped that his name was not called first to form a new line, if that occurred he would have to be the captain, the leader, a role that he knew he was not fit for.

"Reiner Braun, Line 4!"

Armin let out a breath and watched as the tall blonde trainee walked to his line, brimming with confidence.

"Don't worry Mikasa" He said to the trainee's of line 3 who was directly beside him "I'll let your team get second."

Eren chuckled at his friend, "Like hell, Reiner. You're the one going down."

Armin tuned out their friendly bantering as he watched in growing apprehension when Marco, Jean, and Annie were placed behind Reiner in Line 4.

"Oh man, I'm so excited." Marco pumped his fists excitedly but stopped when he was slapped hard on the back by Jean.

"Head in the game, Marco!"

Annie stayed at the back of the line completely silent with her arms crossed against her chest.

Armin looked at the two teams that had formed, now he knew for certain that he had no chance of winning, no matter who he was paired up with. Mikasa and Eren on one team, and Reiner and Annie on another.

This was hopeless.

"Armin Arlert! Line 5"

Armin let out a string of curses that he was not aware he knew until this moment. He began to slowly navigate through the sea of trainees to his line, trying to block out their whispering.

_'Why was that kid made a captain?'_

_'Oh man, I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with Arlert'_

_'I don't want to be on his team.'_

Armin knew that they were right, he was not fit to be a captain, but no matter how much truth there were in those words, it never took away the feelings of hurt and anger that bubbled up inside him.

He made it to his line ignoring the surprised glances of the other teams at the announcement that he would be captain.

"Ymir!"

The tall brunette girl sighed "Great..." Armin did not need to be a genius to know why she looked so disappointed.

"Hello, Ymir." he smiled at her but he was given a blank stare before being ignored completely.

"Connie Springer, Line 5."

"Ah shit..."

Another one on his team, another one disappointed. He really wondered why Shadis would make the mistake of putting him in such a position, then again the man was a bit sadistic.

"Krista Lenz! Line 5."

"Ymir, I'm on your team." The small blonde laughed and jumped on the taller brunette when she got to line 5, "I knew it would happen!"

When they finally separated Krista gave both him and Connie luminous smiles. "Hello Connie, Armin"

Armin and Connie returned the greeting enthusiastically, both of them grateful for her presence as she made this a little more bearable.

After every team was picked and sorted, the trainee's followed Shadis to a classroom where the exercise was explained to them.

"This is a survival exercise that will last 7 days and seven nights! It will take place in the forest directly southeast of the academy. "

"Scattered across the forest are dozens of dummy titans, ranging from 5 meters to 14 meters, your objective is to slice into the nape of their necks." Shadis raised his hand revealing a small white ticket with the Survey Corps emblem and the number 5 written on it.

"After doing so, this will pop out signaling that you defeated the titan, the amount of points the ticket will produce will depend on how large the titan you defeated was." He pocketed the ticket before continuing.

"By the end of the seven days, you'll have 1 day to regroup back at the academy where your total scores will be counted. Rest assured trainees your safety is of the utmost importance. If you are not back in a 24 hour period after the exercise has ended. Myself and several academy instructors will be sent out to search for you. Is that clear trainees!?"

"Yes sir!" the room responded.

"You will each step outside and receive a pack containing supplies that will aid you in your survival, this will include a fully functioning 3D maneuver gear, 2 days worth of rations, a sleeping bag, and a map." Shadis paused before folding his hands behind his back.

"On your feet!" Shadis gave them each a long stare as they stood up "Me and the rest of the instructors designed this exercise to test all of your abilities, so make us proud!"

Shadis put a rough hand over his heart "Do not make me regret this salute Trainee's!"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Armin remembered the trainee's marching outside and taking their supplies. They Then separated into their respective groups and were escorted to different areas of the large forest as a starting point for the exam. the horse ride to the forest had been a long a silent affair and before they knew it the sky began to darken with rain clouds. By the time they had entered the forest rain was pouring down on them relentlessly and now they found themselves here. Scared, disjointed, and demoralized.

Armin began to unstrap the heavy Maneuver gear from his waist and let the supply pack on him fall to the ground. The young trainee sat against a nearby wall to relax. They were going to be here for 7 days, no food or water, no matter how he looked at it Armin knew that they would have no choice but to work together to survive.

He looked to Connie who was twirling his sword around absentmindedly, he was a good soldier, he was fast and agile, and despite his small size his strength was nothing to scoff at. But he was notorious for his oblivious nature and less than keen mind. He was no leader, he hated to admit it, but Connie Springer would make a worse captain than him. His eyes moved from Connie to Ymir who had Krista's head on her lap as she stroked it softly. Ymir was a mystery to him, she was strong, her large stature and toned body spoke of someone who trained a lot, but somehow was one of the laziest people in the academy. Armin truly believed that with a little effort her scores and rating could be twice as good. But despite all those things Ymir was also no leader, her only concern seemed to be Krista.

Finally Armin looked at Krista, She was one of the nicest people he had ever met, she was also one of the few willing to listen to him ramble on about his books besides Eren and Mikasa. She was fast and used the maneuver gear elegantly. Unfortunately Krista was always more concerned about making everyone happy, she would not truly compete against her classmates.

Armin looked down suddenly feeling bad for his thoughts.

_'Here I am calling other people unfit for leadership when I'm no better'_

"min- Armin!"

Armin snapped his head up to see Connie, Krista, and Ymir staring at him.

"Huh, what?" Armin asked, disorientated.

"I asked you what the hell do we do now!?" Connie exclaimed. His eyes containing a bit of panic in them.

Armin struggled to form his thoughts into something coherent. Without realizing he began to talk.

"Umm- well first thing is we have to establish some place where we can be safe, there are animals in the forest and we don't want to run into any predators...also we probably should move further into the forest, nearer to a water source. Our rations will only last two days so if we can maybe hunt some animals that will no doubt be drinking from the nearby water source than we could feed ourselves for the remainder of the exercise.

Everyone was quiet as they listened to him. He was surprised that they all seemed to be considering doing what he was saying.

_'Why are they listening to me?'_

"Is that all?" Ymir asked

"Yes...for now."

It would have to be him he realized, if they were going to win, he would have to step up. Even though he could see it in their eyes that they did not expect much from him he would still do it.

There was really no other option.

He glanced around seeing his teammates, they were ready to give up, the odds were against them and to be honest no one expected them to get close to winning, but he felt a strange sense of responsibility to them.

He stood up and began to strap on his Maneuver gear, the others looking at him strangely.

"We'll move out once the rain has stopped." he walked to the front of the entrance and took out one of his blades and pointed it north, we'll use the 3d maneuver gear to travel deeper in the forest for about 30 minutes. We'll walk after that to save our gas."

Connie, Ymir, and Krista stood beside him getting ready to move out.

Connie stared at him for a few seconds before nodding slowly " Alright if you say so..."

Ymir stood up, hoisting Krista along with her, "Whatever... as long as this doesn't get us killed."

Krista smiled at him "Even if we don't win, lets finish this together!"

In that brief moment the dark sky seemed to brighten up, the sun shining down upon her face beautifully.

Armin's and Connie's eyes widened.

_'Sh- she's stunning...'_

_'It's G-god."_

* * *

**So here are the teams that the 104th are currently in**

**Ymir, Armin, Connie, and Krista. Mikasa, Eren, Sasha, and Bertholdt. Reiner, Marco, Jean, and Annie. Its mostly up to u guys if this story becomes any more than this, im still going to write this to the end probably but if its not well received (as in you guys hate it) then ill only upload sporadically while Commander will be my main focus. if you guys do like it then ill balance out this story and Commander =) See you next time guys**


	2. Thoughts

Sup People's Ronald Weasley the Hero here, Anybody else have an absolute blast on Armin's birthday XD! anyways this is just a short update, make sure you guys know that I am alive and I am still writing, and have no fear Commander is still my main focus and probably always will be. so on to chapter 2, I hope no one reads this story thinking that Armin will be like Shi-oon from the manwha the breaker and go around power punching people! because...yeah thats not going to happen...

* * *

_**The Breaker Chapter 2: Thoughts**_

They had been lucky the rain had not started to pour down on them again. There was was no way to tell where they were going as they were generally unfamiliar with this area of the forest, the instructors had never done exercise with the trainee's this deep inside.

"I think we've gone far enough, let's start walking to save our gas." Armin said, he hooked himself to a bark and used a minimal amount of gas to slowly lower himself to the muddy ground. The others followed suit, landing beside him.

"You really think we're going to find a river around here?" Ymir asked, she had listened to his plan only because it had been the only one suggested, she still didn't think much of him, though she had to admit, earlier he had sounded like he knew what he was doing.

Armin looked at his feet, unable to meet her eyes, He didn't like the way she stared at him "I can't be absolutely sure, but I'm almost positive that there is..."

The four of them began walking at a slow place in the same direction they were traveling earlier, Ymir looked at Armin "So you're familiar with this area then?"

"I...um...no."

Connie was irritated by his response "So you're leading us around a forest with some jacked up plan!"

"No...I." Armin began to feel uncomfortable with the way things were going, he was hesitant to verbalize the thoughts that had been swimming through his head since the exercise began.

Ymir Scoffed, "Tch, I should have known..." The taller brunette grabbed Krista's arm and pushed ahead of them, bumping Armin's shoulder as she walked by.

"Wait, Ymir!" Suprisingly Krista snatched her Arm away from Ymir's grip and frowned at her "We can't break apart like this Ymir. We have to work together and I want to listen to what Armin has to say."

Ymir let out a growl, Armin gulped when she gave him a look of disdain. He avoided the gaze to look at Krista who was smiling at him encouragingly "If you have something on your mind Armin you can go ahead and share."

Armin took a deep breath feeling himself get calmer.

This whole being captain thing was off to a horrible start.

"To be honest I think there are several water sources nearby...Just simply by the way the exercise is designed."

Armin turned around and started to rummage through his supply to pull out the map that they had all been given. "I looked through this earlier and I noticed a mark on it." Armin spread the map out and pointed at the red dot on the outer edge of what seemed like a vague outline of the forest they were currently in.

"I think this is our starting point right here." His finger moved to the middle of the map. "I'm not too sure of the general direction but I think that if we move further inland there would be a water source."

"You still didn't explain why you're so sure there is a river." Connie pointed out.

"Oh right...It's because of what Shadis said earlier."

"What did he say?" Krista asked, she only remembered some of the essential things that Shadis had informed the trainees, had she missed something?

"Shadis said that this exercise would take 7 days and 1 more for you to get back, and yet he only gave us each water to last 2 days at the most and that's if we ration it."

Krista's eyes widened as she put the pieces together " You mean that they expected us to scope out for a water source!"

Armin nodded and brought their attention back to the map, "This is where the map comes in, Assuming that all the trainee's were given a starting point at the surrounding edge of the map, its safe to say that the water source that the instructors may have intended for us to find would likely be someplace that the trainee's would most likely stumble upon even if they never had any intentions to look for it in the first place...which is near the center...down the middle...What?" Armin had slowly stopped talking as he became uncomfortable at the way they were looking at him.

"You...figured all that out?" Connie asked, It was probably his imagination but Armin could have sworn Connie sounded impressed.

"Armin, you're amazing!" Krista gave him a heavenly smile. Armin scratched the back of his head and smiled meekly,

"Ah!" Armin suddenly jerked as he was pulled by the neck finding himself facing an angry Ymir "You had all these thoughts in your head and you didn't bother to open your damn mouth!"

Armin wouldn't admit it but he was a little frightened of her right now, the aura she exuded was a violent one. "I-it was just some thoughts I had, I d-didn't think they mattered all that much!"

"Listen to me and listen to me close..." She lowered her face to whisper in his ear, making Armin freeze.

"You tell me everything that's in that little blonde head of yours, I dont care wether it's about you taking your next piss in the woods."

Armin frowned, did she have to be so crude?

"Or some new ideas on how you plan on fixing that stupid haircut of yours."

Armin was now genuinely offended, he was rather proud of his haircut...

"You run it by us got it?"

"Sure..."

Ymir moved away from him and Armin felt like he could breathe Again. The dark brunette girl grabbed Krista and started to walk away, The blonde girl gave him an apologetic smile as she was dragged off,

"Sorry Armin, That's her way of saying that she respects your thoughts and that she would like to hear them."

Armin rubbed his now soar neck.

_'Of course it did.'_

Connie sighed as he watched Krista and Ymir walk ahead, "Why did we get the crazy one..."

The short trainee began to follow them but stopped to turn back to his captain "I almost forgot how smart you are Armin, you may epically suck at everything else but you sure know your shit!"

Armin decided that he would do himself a favor and take it as a compliment.

"Thanks..."

Armin caught up to the rest of his team. Keeping his thoughts to himself could be a detriment to him and the rest, if he wanted to win he would have to trust himself and his ideas. He made a note to himself that as soon as they found the water source Armin would share every single thing that had been floating in his head since the exercise started.

* * *

Thank you guys for all the faves follows and reviews, it means a lot. Yes this is my failed attempt at trying to capture Armin's ability to notice small details. well let me know what you guys think.

bamzzz: Im glad your interested, i hope you keep reading hehe =)

rilexhorton1001: Here a new chapter, i hope you love this one too, i dont like to spread spoilers but yeah i plan for some interesting things in this story.

naoto: LOL OMG, you killed me XD. don't worry i plan to dude!

suirei: You come to the right place, I don't plan to add any sort of romance to this story and if it does come off romantic its probably because their characters come off that way too, like some people say Ymir likes Krista and Mikasa is in love with Eren because their actions suggest that, so that is probably where anything resembling romance might come from, and thats only if the reader reads alot into it lol . Im sorry to hear that you had to drop Commander but don't worry about this one lol. Ill try to update this as frequently as possible but Commander is my most popular story and hey u got to give the people what they want, its business =).

koryandrs: Thank you, i hope you continue reading. =)


	3. Progress

**These chapters are pretty short i know, but i always try to finish the chapter after i feel like i have gotten my point across. adding any more will just mess up my flow lol...i think that makes sense...whatever. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_** Chapter 3: Progress**_

"Holy crap! You were right! Armin you were right!" Connie whooped loudly.

"You may be an annoying little runt, but at least those brains of yours come in handy."

"Ymir, if you're going to compliment him, don't start with an insult...it loses meaning." Krista told her friend who simply rolled her eyes.

Armin however was barely listening. He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A beautiful glistening river was in front of him, its water was clear, its flow almost enchanting.

He had been correct, he had been right.

"Armin, you listening!?" Connie asked, a wide grin splitting his face.

Armin snapped out of his thoughts to look at his teammate "Yeah-yeah I'm listening...sorry."

The group of four landed near the river and began to fill their canisters to the brim. Armin looked to the three beside him, they were smiling, laughing, enjoying themselves. Ymir was being her usual self and making fun of Connie while Krista played the mediator. It wasn't anything to be concerned about as Armin could tell that it was playful in nature.

He couldn't contain the rush of accomplishment he felt as he watched them. The other teams were probably faring much better than they were most of them likely to have already defeated several Titan dummies. Mikasa's team probably had destroyed more than a dozen already. Armin decided that he wouldn't dwell on how well the others were doing on focus on his team.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked them.

"Yes, were ready Armin." Krista replied.

Ymir's face became stoic again as she stood up "Yeah, sure."

Connie stuffed his water filled canister into his supply bag before turning his attention to Armin "Yeah man good to go. What do we do now though?"

Armin would never admit it, but he rather liked the way that they immediately went to him for guidance.

"If we're going to look for titans, we have to have some place where we could rest or at least a place to come back to. I don't want us to just go off in random directions hoping we spot a Titan dummy."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Ymir asked.

"We separate and look for some place that we deem fit."

Armin pointed to Krista and Ymir, "I want you two to scout for about 20 minutes south of the river, Me and Connie will scout in the opposite direction, If we find anything we'll come back here and regroup to see the places we found and choose which one is best."

Armin looked up at the sky, The dark clouds in the sky had cleared thankfully, but the sun was going to be setting soon. They only had maybe 2 hours of sunlight left, if they were going to do this, they would need to do it now.

"If we can't find anything, then we'll just set up somewhere around the river."

Krista and Ymir turned to hook to a tree but Armin stopped them "Wait! we don't need to use 3D gear, We can save our gas if we walk..."

"Fine." Ymir said. She took Krista's hand and began to walk south as Armin instructed. "And stay close to the river!" he shouted over his shoulder as he began to walk the opposite way with Connie following closely.

"I hear you! Shut up already!' Ymir shouted back.

Armin fell in step with Connie, He knew that in terms of progress they were probably behind. Mikasa's team had Eren, Sasha, and Bertholdt, while Reiner's had Annie, Jean and Marco. Mikasa was capable of leading, even though her superior fighting ability is what people most praised about her, Armin was one of the few people who knew how intelligent she was. She would have no doubt led her team to defeating several Titan dummies already.

Most of all the rest of her team were no slouches, Sasha's intuition was uncanny, it was as if she could see the future sometimes and the fact that she came from a hunting village meant she most likely had knowledge necessary to survive in the wild.

Then there was Bertholdt, he was tall, lean, and muscular. Armin rather liked him. Their personalities naturally meshed and and Armin had developed an easy friendship with the lanky teen. Even though Bertholdt tends to shy away from violence like he would, he also knew that when he was pushed and prodded, Bertholdt was a force to be reckoned with.

There was Eren, his best friend. There was no one who worked harder than he did, he had accomplished so much in so little time, improving his scores dramatically through blood, sweat and tears. Eren was now well rounded and efficient in almost every category.

Reiner's team was just as talented though, Reiner was a natural leader. He had a stern yet gentle presence about him that the younger trainee's were naturally drawn to. He was easily one of the most popular people in the academy. They also had Jean and Marco. Jean was without doubt the best with a 3d maneuver gear, the only person who could outdo him in terms of speed and flexibility was Mikasa. Marco was just as talented. His speed strength, and agility guaranteed him a spot in the top 10. And finally there was Annie Leondhart. Armin had heard less than kind things spoken about her, she was called violent, anti social, some had even called her a bi-he didn't like that word...He didn't know much about her, other than the fact that she was unmatched in hand to hand.

Armin gulped as the chances of winning this exercise seemed to lessen as he thought about his competition

There may have been more than a dozen squads of four but those two were the powerhouse teams that worried Armin.

He just hoped he could do what he needed to do to at least keep up...

* * *

"Keep moving, we can't slow down!" Eren shouted to his teammates that were following him. Practically as soon as the exercise had started, he had jumped ahead and taken the lead, despite the fact that the captain position was Mikasa's, Eren had been barking orders at them the entire time.

"Eren, we need to rest, we've been traveling for nearly 5 hours...and I'm hungry..." Sasha rubbed her stomach as it made a low growling sound.

Eren gritted his teeth in frustration, despite them traveling almost non stop this entire time, they had only managed to find one 6 meter titan dummy that they had finished off easily. Eren had then suggested that they make a head on charge for more Titans. Mikasa had said nothing and remained silent while Sasha and Bertholdt had shared a look of apprehension.

"Mikasa, can you tell him to stop, this won't do anybody any good..." Bertholdt said to Mikasa, whose eyes shifted from Eren back to him.

"He'll just ignore me...If Armin were here..."

Sasha and Bertholdt became uncomfortable at the air the two were permeating. Eren seemed to be frustrated and angry while Mikasa looked numb to everything around her.

Eren suddenly stopped and landed on the wet ground.

The rest followed suit wondering what was wrong.

When they got nearer, Eren was tapping his gas canister, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"It's empty..."

* * *

"Keep up, Annie!"

Annie Leondhart gave Jean Kirchstein a cold glare as he shouted at her "I'm conserving gas, idiot."

"And you're also slowing us down!"

"Scream at me one more time...and watch what happens..."

Jean felt his anger boil, sometimes it was so difficult to keep from punching the antisocial bitch.

"Jean, Annie, Stop it already!" Reiner roared at them, it had been frustrating enough trying to navigate through the rain that had been pouring earlier, he really didn't want to have to deal with two squabbling teammates.

Beside him, Marco sighed. "It's going to be a long seven days isn't it Reiner?"

As Reiner stared at Annie's uncaring eyes and Jean's irritated frown he couldn't help but agree.

None of them knew what the hell they were doing.

* * *

**As you can tell, i love writing Armin, i hope people aren't bored by this XD.**


	4. Roar

**Hi guys, this is ROnaldWeasleyTheHero here gain with another chapter of The Breaker, Im also going to upload Commander sometime soon, its all done, it just has to go through some beta reading and boom uploaded! so look forward to that. Sorry about another chapter since, i really did not expect final exams to consume so much of my writing time. Any way enjoy this one guys, I think fans of Krista will appreciate this chapter. thank you for all the kind reviews, favorites, and alerts!**

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Roar**_

Armin and Connie walked at a slow pace, making sure to keep the river within their line of sight as they searched the surrounding area for a suitable place to set up some kind of camp. There had been no luck so far, just lots of trees and bushes. They had decided to look a little deeper in the forest, hoping to find a better version of the cave that they had stayed in earlier.

"What if we don't find anything, Armin?"

Armin shrugged helplessly, he didn't have all the answers, "Let's just hope that Ymir and Krista find something then..."

"What do you think about them, anyways?" Connie suddenly asked, he and Armin had been quiet for awhile so he decided it would do them some good to talk about something in order to pass the time.

"Ymir and Krista? I think they're fine..."

"You know I've heard that they're...you know." Connie let his words hang in the air.

Armin looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Connie rolled his eyes. Armin had a lot of knowledge about nearly every subject, but this seemed to be an area that he was completely ignorant about.

Connie suddenly stopped walking as he spotted a nearby bush, littered with what looked like an assortment of berries.

"Oh man, dinner!" Connie unstrapped the gear from around his waist and rushed towards the bush already enthusiastically picking the berries and stuffing them into his bag.

Armin picked up his comrades gear and hurried to his side, "Connie, you shouldn't just toss it anywhere, you never know what might happen! And we're suppose to be looking for shelter first and foremost, we can worry about getting something to eat later."

Connie waved off the blond, "Geez, Armin lighten up a little, we've been carrying around those things for forever! And this will only take like five minutes." Connie grinned and held up a berry to Armin's face. He took the small fruit and popped into his mouth. It was sweet, juicy, and absolutely delicious.

"It will go by much faster if you help me out."

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt, at least we will have something even if we don't find shelter."

Armin took off his gear and began to aid Connie in picking the berries.

The two young trainees laughed as they ransacked the bush of all it's fruit, occasionally popping one into their mouths and savoring the taste. They were so caught up in their enjoyment, they did not notice the large, black, lumbering creature that slowly approached from behind.

* * *

Ymir smirked to herself as she used her 3D maneuver gear blades to cut down the branches and plants in her way. Krista was following close behind looking deep in thought.

"Hey this is kind of fun!" Ymir cut a few more branches down with a swing. "At least I finally get to use these things for something."

"Hey, Ymir?" Krista said.

"What is it?"

"Do you hate, Armin?"

Ymir looked a little surprise by the question "What? No. he is kind of annoying, in that small blond puppy sort of way. But I don't hate him."

"Okay that's a relief, but you should at least try to be nicer to him."

"No way, screw that. Do you see the way Mikasa, and Eren baby him? He gets the tiniest scrape and they go ballistic. He has to learn to do shit without mommy and daddy around."

Krista smiled to herself. "So...what you're saying is that you want him to toughen up?"

"No..."

Krista began to laugh "You actually want to help him don't you?"

"Shut up..."

Krista just giggled to herself as Ymir scowled.

"Whatever, just get behind me."

"You accuse Eren and Mikasa of babying Armin, but you do the same to me. I'm not helpless, Ymir."

"That's different."

"No it isn't,"

Ymir grabbed her hair in frustration "Would you just-"

That's when they heard the scream that echoed through the forest.

Krista looked at Ymir with worry, "You don't think that was..."

Ymir nodded,"Yeah, those two idiots found a way to get themselves into some sort of stupid shit!"

The two hooked themselves to nearby trees and soared off, They closed the distance between them and the loud screaming in a short amount of time, the 3D maneuver gear allowing much faster travel than their legs.

Ymir glanced down and her eyes widened in recognition.

It was Armin and Connie, and they were being chased by something, an animal.

Ymir squinted to get a better look and from the black fur and the large body she could definitely see it was a black bear.

Krista beside her gasped and pointed to their forms "They don't have gear on!" she said, her voice tinged with worry.

Ymir would have face-palmed if steering her gear had not required two hands.

"You gotta be kidding me."

Well...it looked liked she would have to save them.

They were so going to get it from her later.

"Alright, Krista, listen up. You stay here and I'll go and-" Ymir never got to finish as her eyes widened when Krista sped past her with a burst of speed.

* * *

Both Connie and Armin were pumping their legs as fast they could, the enraged animal catching up quickly.

"What the hell are we going to do!?" Connie Screamed.

"I don't know!" Armin screamed back,

"Well think, you're smart!"

The heavy footsteps of the bear sounded like they were getting closer but neither of them dared to look back.

"W-we have to get back to our 3D maneuver gear, if we can get them back on then we could get to safety in the trees!"

"Oh right, because the bear that's chasing us is just going to stop and drink green tea as it lets us strap on our gear!"

"Your sarcasm is noted, and unappreciated!" Like he could come up with a better idea!

"Fuck you!"

They heard a roar behind them that was now much too close for comfort.

"Damn it, I thought bears were suppose to be slow!"

"Actually bears can go up to-"

"Armin! Seriously!? Now is not the time!"

Aemin could hear the footsteps now. Was this how he was going to go out? Mauled by a bear during a training exercise. That was pathetic even for him.

Armin closed his eyes trying to block out everything around him to think of some sort of escape plan. The bear was faster than them, it would catch up in not time and rip them apart. There only hope would be to separate and whichever one got away would go back to get the gear and hopefully make it back in enough time to aid the other.

"Aahh!"

Armin turned around just in time to see Krista descend from above, her sharp silver swords withdrawn and a determined glint in her eye. The blonde female let out a war-cry and let her blades sink into the flesh of the large animal. The bear howled and roared, jerking and thrashing in agony. The smaller girl was flailing as she held tightly to her blades.

Armin and Connie watched with awe as the smaller girl never let go, finally with a groan the bear stopped and fell limply to the ground.

Krista pulled her swords out and she wiped the blood coated weapon against the animals fur.

"Are you two alright?"

Connie and Armin gaped.

Suddenly Ymir landed near Krista and grabbed the blonde in a headlock as she began to rub her knuckles on her scalp"What the hell were you thinking!?"

Krista squealed "Aah Ymir! I'm sorry."

after a while Ymir stopped "You've proven your point, okay. Just don't go around doing stupid stunts like that again."

Krista let out a heavenly smile "Thanks, Ymir."

Connie and Armin collapsed as the adrenaline that was keeping them up finally ran out. They both sat against a nearby a tree, their heavy breathing almost in sync.

"Why did you listen to me and take off your gear?" Connie asked the smaller blond.

"a lapse of judgment..." Armin replied.

"Well...never do it again."

"Which one? Listen to you? Or take off my gear?"

"Both."

* * *

**Short, but i generally got what i wanted across! next couple chapters will turn up the heat. i really can't wait to show you guys what i have planned *evil smirk***

**Toto Yoshio: Yes, lol, sometimes just becuz ur strong doesnt mean u get along.**

**Aoi Hyoudou: I 1000percent agree, which is why i made this fic =)**

**Agoz25: Ha lol, you never what might happen =)**

**Grimmuald: Thank you! =) Armin will come into his own in this story in a couple of ways, i hope you stick around to see what happens.**

**Nasha Rei-kun: Yes that is exactly what iwanted to portray, Armin is not the type to think negatively of people, especially Eren and Mikasa who he admires greatly. i dont know if the ending will be funny lol, but i can guarantee you there will be some lighthearted funny parts across the story, i already know how it is going to end, and i think some people will definitely be suprised.**


	5. The Catalyst

**Hello everyone, RonaldWeasleyTheHero here giving you another chapter of The Breaker, i wanted to update fast, since the last one took a while to get up, its a decently sized chapter compared to the last few. I just wanted to say thank you for all the likes reviews and favorites. You guys make my day =). anyway enjoy the chapter, hope no one is bored by this story XD, since it doesnt have ships.**

* * *

_**Chapter 5: The Catalyst**_

He really couldn't believe that he had almost let himself be eaten by a bear of all things, he felt so stupid. Not only had he put himself and his comrades in danger, he had lost them precious sunlight. Eventually he had deemed it too late to go searching around the forest where there were likely more dangerous animals, so he and his team went ahead with their back up plan and set up camp near the river.

Now he found himself looking at the many stars in the night sky, his small thin body tucked deeply into his sleeping bag. He drowned out Connie, Ymir, and Krista's conversation as he let himself dive deeply into his own thoughts.

He had lost an entire day, they had accomplished nothing in the last 24 hours.

Well Krista had killed a bear, which had been amazing. Other than that, they had not done much for the rest of the day. He felt so anxious knowing that the other teams could be stacking up their numbers by now. They needed to do something worthwhile tomorrow, and he would stay up all night trying to think of a plan if he had to.

"The best one's are about a prince and a princess! And sometimes the princess, well she's not a princess yet, but sometimes she has an evil step mother who is jealous of how beautiful her step daughter is, while her own daughters are really ugly!" Krista was talking in rapid fire while Ymir stared up at the night sky looking bored.

Connie on the other hand was listening with rapt attention.

"Well, what does the dad have to say about all this?" He asked.

"Actually the dad's are usually gone, come to think of it I just realized that most of the time they aren't even mentioned."

"Wow, dad's get the shit end of the stick in fairy tales don't they?"

"I disagree," Ymir said, speaking up "I say the princess-"

"Future princess." Krista corrected.

"Yeah future princess, has the shit deal, her entire family is evil and she can't do anything for herself till some pussy-looking effeminate prince asshole comes in and gives her shoes, or a necklace, or some other crap that she doesn't need or doesn't help the situation at all."

Krista frowned, and reached over to pinch the brunette's check"That's such a depressing way of looking at thing's, Ymir."

Ymir swatted the hand away, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Armin closed his eyes, letting the rest of the conversation mix into the background, his head was fuzzy and his eyes were heavy. He would just have to brainstorm tomorrow and try to make the best of what they had.

"Alright kiddies, bed time!" Connie began, then grinned at Krista who blinked at him, "Hey Krista, make sure to keep your sleeping bag close to mine, I'll protect you."

Armin chuckled into his hand so the others wouldn't notice.

Connie was so obvious.

"I can protect her just fine, midget..."

Connie scowled "You just had to go there didn't you!"

Ymir gave him a cruel smirk before pulling Krista and her sleeping bag closer.

Armin decided that he should probably step in, "Everyone should probably try to get some sleep, we'll need our rest if we want to be productive tomorrow."

"Yeah, Armin is right. Good night Connie, good night Armin, good night Ymir."

"Night Krista, night Armin, night crazy woman, see you guys in the morning!"

"Alright, good night Conn-"

"Would everyone just the fuck up and go to sleep!" Ymir interrupted loudly, startling Armin and the rest.

Krista smiled at them sweetly, "She meant to say goodnight...that's her way of saying good night."

Connie and Armin chuckled awkwardly and decided to take her word for it.

After awhile the three of them quieted down and shut their eyes while Armin did the same,

Finally...

* * *

"Damnit! Goddamn it!"

Eren's enraged shout filled the small area they were in.

Bertholdt had tried to calm the irate trainee but it was useless as the lanky teen had barely manage to form a sentence in the presence of such overwhelming anger.

Sasha had been fiddling with something for the past hour that none of them had any clue what it was.

While Mikasa stared at Eren, trying to figure out a way to calm him down.

So far none of her ideas had worked.

They were in a dire situation. The four of them had been slowed significantly due to the fact that one of their members no longer had gas.

Mikasa had suggested she carry him, unfortunately, that had only resulted in further shouting, this time directed at her.

The very thought that he was the one that was holding the team back had eaten away at Eren rapidly. He was constantly snapping at everyone, and punching things in frustration, and when he wasn't he was moody and unapproachable.

Every attempt at trying to help him out of his bad mood had been met with resistance, she just simply did not know what to do when he got this way. She had decided that punching him like when they were kids would probably help him find his way back to reality. It had worked for the span of a few minutes before they started moving again. Unfortunately, that had been a reminder of what kind of situation he had put the four of them in, and his moodiness had returned ten times stronger.

Mikasa wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck and sighed as she watched him punch a tree, then grasp his hand in obvious pain.

They had no direction, no plan, they weren't even sure where they were or had a clue of how they would manage to find another titan dummy.

"I'm going to go on lookout." Mikasa said, directing her statement at Bertholdt,

"Okay, be careful." He replied

She nodded and hooked herself to the largest tree she could find and propelled herself up to land on one of its large branches.

After about an hour, Mikasa turned to see Sasha landing beside her.

She was smiling from ear to ear, "Mikasa, I got an idea."

Mikasa was glad that at least someone did, she was up for anything right now.

"Alright, I'm listening..."

Sasha held up a strange rope like thing that Mikasa was not familiar with, "We can use this to get some food."

Mikasa's eyes lit up at the mention of food, maybe satisfying Eren's hunger would calm him down.

"We used this to capture some animals back in the village where I lived, if we manage to get some rabbits or something, I can cook them to make them taste real good!" Sasha began to drool at the thought.

Mikasa let out a small smirk, "That's actually not a bad idea..."

Sasha laughed and gave her a thumbs up "I'm going to set some up around the area, wanna come?"

Mikasa looked at the cheery brown haired girl then below at a stewing Eren and an awkward Bertholdt.

"Bertholdt!" She said, raising her voice so he could hear her. "Me and Sasha are going to scout further into the forest, can you watch over Eren?"

As soon as the sentence was out of her mouth, Mikasa knew what would come next.

"I can take care of myself!"

Mikasa stared at his slumped form a feeling of uselessness rising up inside her. She hated the way that they were with each other sometimes, all she wanted was to be by his side, but sometimes the way he said things, or the way he acted constantly told her that he didn't need her. That he didn't even want to need her.

Mikasa turned around, her eyes becoming downcast.

Sasha stared back and forth between everyone, feeling the uncomfortable air between Mikasa and Eren rise up once again.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

Mikasa sped away with Sasha on her heels.

* * *

Armin woke up to screaming.

His heart had leaped out of his chest, and his adrenaline had started to pump through him, his body getting ready to deal with some kind of hostile situation.

What he found however was anything but...

Ymir was holding Connie by the neck and shaking him vigorously, While Krista was desperately trying to separate the two.

"You perverted bald midget!"

"Let go of me, crazy woman!"

Armin rushed to the scene, and put himself in between the two. "Stop! What happened? What's going on?"

Ymir answered first, her face looking absolutely infuriated "I found that idiot over there inside Krista's sleeping bag!"

"It was an accident!"

"So you sleep walked inside her sleeping bag!? Either way I'm still going to kill you!"

She lunged for him and Krista and Armin barely managed to restrain her.

"Ymir, he didn't do anything," Krista said, then blushed. "...I think."

"Connie you should apologize to Krista." Armin told the smaller boy, who bit his lip in frustration.

"Ugh fine...Sorry Krista..."

"I catch you pulling this shit again, and I'll castrate you..."

"I'd like to see you try, psycho!"

Then they were at it again, and Armin felt himself age a little more in that instant.

"Stop, Stop!"

He grabbed both their arms tightly in his hands. "Look, we need to put this behind us for now. If we end up fighting each other we'll probably die out here, and I really don't want my grave to be this forest of all things."

Ymir pulled her hand away from Armin's "Alright, but I'm watching you!"

Connie crossed his arms defiantly and blew his tongue at her.

After the incident was over, the four of them began to gear up and gather their supplies together.

"The plan is the same as before," Armin told them, "We'll scope out for a place to take shelter."

"So how long before we got to meet back here?" Ymir asked Armin, who had just finished strapping his 3D Maneuver gear around his waist.

"We have a lot more time than we did yesterday, so let's say 30 minutes before we regroup back here?"

"Sounds good to me, let's go Krista" Ymir replied, she took Krista by the hand and headed in the opposite direction.

"Ymir, don't pull..." Armin heard Krista say before they were out of earshot. Connie stepped to his side and patted him on the back.

"Ready to go dude?"

"Yeah."

Armin and Connie once again started walking the same they went the previous day, hoping that this time they wouldn't encounter any hungry bears.

* * *

Mikasa watched in fascination as Sasha began to set up her elaborate trap, she had honestly forgotten that Sasha was from a hunting village and had probably been exposed to these kinds of things since she was young.

"How does this even work?" Mikasa asked,

Sasha shrugged. "Um, I don't really know, I just kind of set it up and animals get caught up in them! I can't really explain it, sorry"

"It's alright," Mikasa said, she should have expected that, Sasha often relied on her keen instincts more than anything else.

She tied something around a nearby tree before clapping her hands together "There, all done!"

"Now what do we do?"

"We wait for something to get caught in it of course!"

Sasha jumped down from the tree and took a look at her trap "I feel like I'm missing something?" She put a finger to her chin, struggling to figure out what she was forgetting.

"Bait..." Mikasa realized.

Sasha face-palmed "Of course, I can't believe I forgot about that!"

Sasha began to rummage though her bag, to look for something they could use as bait, Mikasa was surprised when she pulled out a 3D maneuver gear gas container. "We'll use this!"

"Why do you have that?"

"Eren threw it deep into the forest in one of his fits, and Bertholdt said he would probably still need it so he spent all last night looking for it. Didn't you notice when he left?"

Mikasa shook her head, it was difficult to notice Bertholdt even when he was around. For such a tall person, he really lacked any sort of presence.

"How is that going to attract animals? Shouldn't we use something that's edible?" Mikasa inquired.

"We don't really have anything like that right now, and also some animals are attracted to the shine." Sasha laughed softly to herself as a memory came to mind "My dad used to take me out into the forest around our house and catch raccoons with coins."

"I'm not eating raccoon..."

"We didn't eat them! We let them go, my dad was just teaching me how to hunt and set up some traps."

Sasha set the empty container in the middle of the trap and then hid it with some leaves, leaving only the container exposed.

"There, does it look believable?" Sasha asked.

Mikasa shrugged, she really didn't know much about things like this, as far as she was concerned it was perfect.

"I'll take that as a yes then..."

"Are you done?" Mikasa wanted to get back, she was starting to worry about what kind of trouble Eren could start with just Bertholdt watching over him.

"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go back."

"Lets walk, we can save some gas that way." Mikasa told her, the brunette girl gave a nod of understanding and followed Mikasa on their way back to their comrades.

* * *

Armin was only half listening as Connie ranted about Ymir, the shorter trainee had gone off as soon as Krista and Ymir's form had disappeared into the forest, and unfortunately for Armin he was the only living, breathing human being around, and the only one that Connie could vent to.

"Who the hell does think she is anyway, acting all high and mighty! Any guy would have done the same in my situation. I mean you got a cute girl like Krista all vulnerable and in need of comfort, I was just being a gentleman!"

"Of course..." Armin answered, although he completely disagreed that every man would sneak into another girl's sleeping bag.

He certainly wasn't capable of doing something like that.

Armin pushed some stray branches that were in his way and arrived in a clearing, His eyes widened with what he saw.

Connie had not even noticed that his captain had frozen in place, still too busy carrying on about Ymir.

"And that crazy woman shaking me around with her monstrous strength! She can go suck my-"

"Connie! Look!"

"What! What is it!?", Connie began to search the surround area frantically, trying to figure out what was so urgent.

Armin grabbed Connie forcefully by the head and pointed it in the right direction.

Connie's mouth fell open.

There on top of a small hill was a small wooden cabin.

"Holy shit...", Connie whispered.

Armin couldn't help but agree, "Holy shit, indeed!"

"Armin, you just swore!"

Armin laughed, "I think this warrants a little swearing."

before they knew it the both of them were scrambling up the hill to get to the small wooden home.

Armin stopped in front of the door and examined it, It looked to be intact, and from what he could see there wasn't any apparent structural damage on the outside.

Armin raised his knuckles to the door and knocked twice.

"Did you just...knock?"

"I don't want to be rude..."

Connie rolled his eyes "Alright move," Connie pushed him out of the way, before ramming his shoulder into the door, however it didn't even budge and Connie bent down on one knee clutching his shoulder in pain.

"Aah son of a bitch!"

Armin stepped in front of him and opened the door using the knob. He glanced down at Connie, amused.

The shorter trainee did not appreciate the look Armin gave him. "Shut-up, I was going to do that next..."

"Sure."

"I was!"

Armin stepped in to the door and pushed away some cobwebs that were hanging in front of him.

"Oh man," Connie muttered, looking a little bit panicky, "I really hate spiders."

"A lot of spiders are generally harmless, while some may be poisonous they still prefer to eat small insects and the like, the reason why a lot of us are afraid of them are because the human brain is hardwired to react to things that scuttle and-"

"Armin, shut-up...please."

The two of them began to inspect the cabin, Armin looked at the roof and was happy to notice that there were no holes or visible damage, It contained some ragged furniture that were torn and broken, along with a small fireplace that clearly hadn't been used in a long time.

"Hey this place isn't so bad, all it needs is a little love and it should be a nice spot to ride out this exercise."

"Yeah, and the river is nearby so we shouldn't go thirsty."

Armin felt extremely lucky as he took in the cabin, this had been an amazing stroke of luck, now that he found a place where they could go back to and could feel relatively safe, this exercise would be less dangerous. Even if they lost miserably, at least they would be somewhat comfortable.

"We should probably go tell Ymir and Krista. They are going to flip!" Connie told him,

"Yeah I'll go and lead them back here, you stay here Connie."

"Alright!" Connie said distractedly and began to rummage around in the small kitchen like area.

Armin ran out of the door and down the hill into the forest where he planted his hooks into the nearest tree, his 3D maneuver gear swinging his small body from branch to branch. He could not wait to tell both Krista and Ymir what he and Connie had found, they would be ecstatic.

Best of all they had finally accomplished something worthwhile, having a place that they could regroup, and take shelter would be a huge advantage in this exam.

Armin smiled and continued to soar, his thoughts positive for once.

That's when something shiny caught the corner of his eye and he stopped, landing against the side of a tree.

Armin was surprised when he caught the sight of a 3D maneuver gear gas container just lying on the ground. Was this another stroke of luck? Finding another gas container would give him and his team a significant advantage over the others.

Armin dropped to the ground and approached the small silver container. Maybe this was part of the exam? Maybe the instructors had dropped gas randomly across the forest to aid the trainee's, it would make sense, since their gas was limited and there was really no other way to obtain more.

When Armin got close enough he bent down to grab it. As soon as his fingers brushed against it he felt it. The single moment where his entire being knew that there was something incredibly wrong.

Before he could react, there was a loud snapping sound, and Armin let out a scream as his leg was hooked by something and his body was dragged upward.

Now he found himself hanging upside down, his right leg bound tightly by some kind of rope.

_'What the hell...' _he thought, feeling himself begin to panic, _'What the hell!?'_

Armin groaned when he realized what kind of situation he was in,

Ymir was going to be so mad at him.

He hung there for awhile, not really knowing what to do. He was in an incredibly awkward position, his left leg hanging uncomfortably loose as his right was constricted by whatever trap had been set.

He closed his eyes trying desperately to think of a way out of this situation, the blood would start rushing to his head soon, and if he stayed like this for an elongated period of time he could possibly die.

A sudden idea formed in his mind and he reached for one of his swords around his waist. He took out the sharp silver weapon and began to swing away at the rope around his leg, but his short arm and awkward position left him unable to reach it.

_'Damn it!' _Feeling frustrated Armin let the sword drop and went back to dangling helplessly.

There was the faint sound of feet landing on wood and Armin was barely able to contort his body to see Sasha and Mikasa above him.

"Mikasa!" He felt a great sense of relief and joy at seeing his childhood friend.

"Oh my god! Mikasa, we caught an Armin! Well the Armin, I mean just Armin..."

Mikasa gave Sasha a blank look.

Armin laughed, "It's so good to see you two!"

The blonde boy starting to fire questions at his Oriental friend.

"How is Eren doing? Have you managed to find any titan dummies yet...what am I saying, of course you have. How many do you have?" He couldn't contain his excitement at seeing her, now that they found each other, maybe they could help each other out. Did they need shelter? He should probably tell them about the Cabin they found. It wasn't big but it should be enough to fit eight of them for the remaining six days of the exam.

Mikasa frowned and didn't answer, causing Armin to wonder what was wrong, but he decided that could wait, right now...

"Can you help me down?" He asked.

"Sorry Armin," Sasha apologized, "We just wanted to catch some food to eat. We didn't expect to catch a blonde."

"Can you just get me down please..."

"Hehe, sorry..."

Sasha used a small burst of gas to hop to the tree where the trap was set, she was in the process of cutting the rope but Mikasa stepped in and held her hand in place.

"Mikasa?" Sasha questioned, confused.

"Wait..." Mikasa dropped down and approached him, their eyes locked and Armin could have sworn she looked almost...apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Armin. Eren needs it."

Armin was stunned when she began to unstrap his gear from his waist.

"Mikasa, stop, what are you doing?" he cried, unable to believe that Mikasa was doing this to him.

"I'm sorry..." She said again.

Sasha realized what was going on and watched the entire event unfold, her face conflicted.

Mikasa took the gear from his waist and took out all of the gas containers.

"Please, don't do this Mikasa, I need it...please." He was begging now, on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry...but Eren...Eren needs it..."

She placed the gas-less gear softly on the ground.

"Mikasa...stop! Don't!"

She walked away and nodded to Sasha who cut the rope.

He fell to the ground with a thump and he scrambled to his feet but the two females were already in the trees and on their way

"Mikasa!" Armin yelled, unable to believe what his friend, his family had just done to him. She looked back briefly, but turned around, unable to look at his anguished face for much longer.

"Mikasa!" It hurt so much.

"Mikasa!" His scream echoed throughout the forest, filled with pain and betrayal.

There was no answer, only silence.

"Mikasa!"

* * *

H**ope you guys liked it, and before anyone asks Commander will be coming soon lol.**

**alexadru: im glad you liked it, yes i wanted to write a story showing the underdogs vs the elites and what better people then Ymir and Armin who were not part of the top ten, and Krista and Connie, the two smallest people in the academy.**

**Stiller3: I just saw you on Reddit lol, you are everywhere! and btw you hit the nail right on the head, some gas stealing from Mikasa =).**

**Aoi Hyoudou: yes i wanted to portray some of ymir's thoughts towards Armin, it's not that she doesnt like him, she just thinks he should show a little more initiative, especially since he is supposed to be responsible for their lives.**

**Agoz25: Commander will be up soon( I promise lol) thanks for the review btw. i bet everyone expected Ymir to save them lol. but i wanted Krista to show that she isnt some doll for people to take care of, she can take initiative too, and she can also fight and take care of herself. go Krista!**

**until next time =)**


End file.
